Ikea

So, I finally got around to visiting Flavors, the only Swedish restaurant in Taiwan apart from Ikea, which I don’t really think counts. They’ve just opened at a new location and the place was small ,but cozy and well decorated, although it didn’t look particularly Swedish. The dinner tonight was arranged by the Swedish Trade Council here in Taiwan and there was about 20 people or so in total, most of them other Swedes.

The selection of dishes aren’t really representative of Sweden, as Ola, the chef and owner, does his own little thing, but the meatballs looked authentic enough. I ordered the warm smoked salmon salad for starters while Brenda got the Italian mushroom sallad. The menu differs slightly from the one on the website, so there might be some difference choices when you get there. For main course I went with the venison & hasselback potato with juniper game sauce, while Brenda decided to go for the prime beef & potato tower with green pepper sauce & garlic butter.

First we got some freshly baked bread with tapenade, although not being a big fan of olives, this wasn’t really for me and the bread has some peculiar flavour, but you could tell it was very fresh. Then we got some pumpkin soup – which for some reason seem very popular with restaurants in Taiwan – which was ok, but nothing spectacular.

The venison on the other hand was very tender and cooked just right, although I only got one hasselback potato which I think was a bit stingy considering that what I ordered was well over NT$1,200. Brenda’s steak came with more potato and was also very good and had a nice sauce with it and came in at under NT$1,000. Of course tips and tax wasn’t included in the price.

The dessert was some kind of apple cake from the southern parts of Sweden in a light vanilla sauce, all quite tasty, but the sauce could’ve done with a bit stronger flavouring. All in all with drinks, the tab ended up at close to NT$3,000 which is a bit steep considering what we ate and neither portion was huge. I will be going back as the food was tasty, although I think I’ll go for the veal chops & truffle mashed potato with truffle sauce, as I saw someone else eating at it was a good helping of mash and four veal chops, which looked like a lot more food than the two pieces of venison I had and it was slightly cheaper. The meatballs also looked ok, but also seemed quite expensive, considering how easy and cheap they are to make.

Flavors is a place for when you want to eat something out of the ordinary in Taipei, but it’s not cheap. Of course, it all comes down to your budget, although I might have to go back and check out the supper club at some stage as well.

You can find out more by visiting their website or giving them a call at 02-2709 6525. The map below shows where they are, it’s not that hard to find, it’s about a 5 min walk from NY Bagel and they have a big sign outside. Just don’t talk too loud outside or the upstairs neighbours will come down and complain 😉

If you’re moving to or have just moved to Taiwan and more specifically in this case, Taipei (as it’s the part of the country I’m familiar with), it can be hard to find certain things, as you’ll most likely not recognize any of the supermarkets here from back home, unless you’ve got Carrefour or Geant (now A-Mart) in your country. Even so, don’t expect to find the same stock of things as you would back home.

People here eat quite different things from Westerners and even other Asians and as such, the supermarkets stock mostly what the locals eat. I’ve compiled a list of all the local supermarkets below and I have written a short description about the ones I’ve been to. If anyone has additional information, please feel free to email me.

Carrefour is the biggest supermarket in Taiwan and as a French company, they stock some imported items, although depending on where you live these things might sell our more quickly than in some other areas and the selection also vary. They have specials at times when they import a selected amount of items from specific countries and they’ve had big drives for US food and Thai food in the past. They stock things like yogurt (although quite expensive and usually not that good), French cheese (again quite expensive), cereal (also quite expensive), a wide range of tinned and canned food and of course French wine. Some Carrefours are open 24h, seven days a week.

A-mart (Previously known as Geant) is another French supermarket chain, but generally it’s a lot more localized than Carrefour and you won’t find the same amount of imported items here. That said, A-Mart is generally a bit cheaper than Carrefour, but there aren’t as many around. A-Mart tend to stock slightly different brands and items than Carrefour and it’s a good place to have a look in if you can’t find what you’re looking for in Carrefour. Again, the various shops seems to carry different items, so just because one A-mart has it doesn’t mean you’ll find it on another one. The larger the store, the bigger chance that they’ll have something a bit more special it seems.

Wellcome is a Chinese supermarket chain and it’s not one I frequent very often. They carry more local things, but have some imported good as well, mainly from the US. As with the larger supermarkets, all branches doesn’t carry the same items, so it’s worth looking around. They do at times carry some hard to find items and are usually cheaper than Jason’s and C!ty’super on those items. Their shops are usually smaller than Carrefour and A-mart, but the advantage is that all of the shops are open 24h, seven days a week.

RT Mart is a local supermarket that has a partnership with French Auchan and as such they carry a fair share of imported goods. They got a lot of own brand import items such as pasta, sauces, etc and it’s all imported from Europe and has pretty good quality. They also carry a small range of organic items. From time to time they also have a lot special time limited imports from both Asia, Europe and the US. RT-Mart also have a large selection of imported beer and alcohol. As with most supermarkets here, the available items will vary from shop to shop, but the one in Xindian is the only one I normally frequent and from time to time they have a lot of good imported goods, but it’s usually not things that are in stock for long, so if you see something you want, get it there and then, as it might not be available next week.

PX Mart is a budget supermarket that has expanded a lot, as they took over a government-run chain of supermarkets as well as a Japanese chain that was called Matsusei. They mostly sell local stuff, but tend to have a few imported items as well. Generally quite a cheap place, but most stores don’t sell things like fruit, vegetables and unprocessed meat. Recently they’ve launched a few higher-end shops that have more imported items and better quality groceries.

Taisuco, the Taiwan Sugar company, also has a few large stores in southern Taiwan and I don’t have any experience with these stores. They’re meant to offer discount coupon books (similar to Costco) a couple of times a year ranging from NT$1,000-3,000 in terms of discount, with with each coupon being worth about NT$100. (Thanks to TainanCowboy from Forumosa for the update). There’s one located near Taipower station in Taiwan, but it looks like nothing more than small Wellcome.

Discount Martis supposed to be a chain of budget supermarkets. I’ve seen at least one location where they’ve replaced a Wellcome. As it’s a cheaper supermarket, they don’t seem to stock anything unique as such.

Simple Mart is another budget chain which is more of a convenience store than a real supermarket. They do have a lot more food items than 7-11 though, so by Taiwan standards it’s a supermarket. They tend to have the odd imported items and they’re generally price competitive.

For those with a bit more money to spend, there are also some upmarket supermarkets here, although there’s only a few of them, so you’ll have to do some traveling to get there in most cases.

First up we have Jasons, the most well known one is located in the bottom of the 101. They used to have a wide selection of imported food from all-over the world, but the store in the 101 building has about halved in size due to the fact that Din Tai Fong moved in next door and took over a lot of their space, so it’s not as good of a supermarket as it was some years ago. They’re anything but cheap, although if you’re looking for something special, this might be a good place to find it. They’re big on organic and healthy stuff as well and if you have special dietary needs, then this might be the place for you. Don’t bother with the deli counter for sliced meats, as the staff isn’t very knowledgeable and the stock is also quite limited. Sometimes you can score a bargain or two here, especially when they have a promotion or sale going. Recently Jasons has been expanding with multiple new, smaller stores around the island. The company has also taken over a few Wellcome stores in Taipei and possibly elsewhere.

Next up we have C!ty’super which again offers a wide range of imported goods, although more so from Japan, than from other parts of the world. They used to have the best deli counter in Taipei, but the last couple of years things have gone downhill and the selection has halved. They have a range of imported deli-meats and cheeses, but the selection can vary immensely depending on when they get new stock in. This is also a good place for various other odds and ends such as fancy olive oil, tinned/canned goods and some harder to find baking ingredients. If you didn’t find what you were looking for in Jason’s, this might be the next best place to find it.

Breeze super is as far as I know, a one-off supermarket located in the basement of the Breeze Center on FuXing South Road. This is a Japanese supermarket, but they import a lot of stuff from all-over the world, although most of what they offer is available in Jason’s or C!ty’super. I don’t have a link to a website for them and if you know of one, please get in touch.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi also has its own supermarkets, although not every store has one. They mainly stock Japanese food, but as with most of these upmarket stores, you can also find some imported items. Recently it seems like their selection of imported items from outside of Asia has shrunk somewhat, possibly due to poor sales.

Then there’s of course Costco which is the place to go to if you have a big fridge and freezer to fill. I’d suggest getting a Costco membership, it’s currently NT$1,350 for a year and you’ll save it on your first couple of trips there. It’s the cheapest place for cereal (bulk size), cheese, meat and loads of other stuff. More recently they’ve also started to carry things like Greek yoghurt and feta cheese and they also have smaller packs of cheese that you might have a chance to finish before it goes moldy. You can also get other useful things here like bread makers, small ovens (ovens aren’t a common household item in Taiwan, but more on that another time) and just about anything else you could need for your kitchen. Costco has recently (in 2014) updated their website and is posting all their special offers on the website now, in both Chinese and English. It’s also possible to shop online, but you need to have a Costco branded credit card to do so and it might be easier to get blood from a stone than to get one these days, as Cathay United Bank took over the credit card partnership some years ago and they normally won’t give credit cards to non Taiwanese.

IKEA also stocks a certain amount of imported Swedish food, although the selection isn’t huge, it is a great place for us Scandinavians to go when we have a craving for something from home. That said, more and more stuff from IKEA is no longer made in Sweden, but rather by whatever partner IKEA wants to work with and branded IKEA. The store near the Taipei arena (inside Asiaworld) usually sells out really quick, so if you’re trying to get hold of something special, you might want to try to get to one of the other stores. They normally stock things like tunnbröd, polarkakor (or at least an IKEA version of it), knäckebröd, kaviar (not seen that in years), jam, frozen meatballs and a selection of Swedish sweets and crisps. Lately (as of 2018) they’ve also had Swedish cheese, various snacks, sweets and various seasonal specials. They also have a selection of Swedish cider, beer and alcohol. This is also the only place to get Julmust when it’s that time of the year and they’ve even sold frozen crayfish.

HOLAis a local version of IKEA to some fashion and they also sell a few food items, mostly imported things and you can find some bargains there at times. They have various size stores and the larger ones usually have a bigger selection of grocery items. It’s also a place where you can pick up a lot of other kitchen items, like pots and pans and various kitchen tools. They merged with the local B&Q equivalent (which used to be B&Q once upon a time) a while ago, hence the odd website.

Another place that I have yet to visit that sells food in bulk is PnP food which seems to stock a lot of specialty items. They normally sell to the hotel and catering business, but they will sell to walk-ins at their warehouse address which can be found on their website. They will also order in special things for you, but be prepared to order large amounts at a time.

There are also a lot of local baking supply shops which can have a lot of specialty items. One of the better ones, at least if you’re looking for things like fresh yeast, rye flour and other things for making bread, would he a place called JiaYuan Food in Xindian.

Another handy place which it seems I’d forgotten to add to my list is Trinity Indian Stores which has a couple of location in Taipei City. Beyond Indian ingredients, they stock a fairly decent range of spices, often much cheaper than what you’d find in the local supermarkets. Their shop locations can be a bit tricky to find if you haven’t been before. The easiest one to locate is the one near City Hall MRT station.

Other places to do your shopping in are convenience stores, there are more 7-11’s in Taiwan than in the whole of the USA and no less than 9,100 of them spread across the country with more opening all the time. Then there’s of course FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart. You can do a lot of other useful things in convenience stores in Taiwan too, like pay your bills, parking fees and collect C.O.D. packages etc. Most of the convenience stores also have an ATM. To find your local shop, either look out the window or head over to Google Maps where most of them tend to be listed these days.

It’s also worth visiting your local “wet market” which might have many of the items you’d want, especially fruit and vegetables which can be of much better quality and at lower prices than what you’d get in the supermarkets. Local stores can also stock various hard to find items and I found that a very local little vegetable and what not shop near where I lived stock beetroot when it’s in season, although these days it’s quite common in most supermarkets. The flower markets might also be good for fresh herbs and things like chili plants, although you’d have to have space to put the plants somewhere.